(‘Whoa, guys, I just had the worst dream.  Dan Henderson poked me in the eye and head-butted me and I lost the decision anyway and then…why are you all looking at me like that?  Where am I?  And why do I suddenly have no depth perception?’)

It’s all fun and games until somebody gets poked in the eye.  Word from Rich Franklin’s official website is that he will not need Anthony Johnson-esque surgery to repair the eye that Dan Henderson got knuckle-deep into, which is always good news. 

In addition to the eye-poke injury, Franklin also needed stitches in his head on account of the Hendo head-butt that opened up a nasty cut on his forehead, as well as stitches on his shin to close a cut resulting from one of his many kicks in the fight.  Basically, it was a rough night.  At least he had his special pink travel pillow to comfort him on the long journey home.

More pics of the damage “Ace” suffered are after the jump.  Take a look at those and then ask yourself anew, ‘Do you want to be a f*cking fighter?!’

(Mark "Frankenstein" Coleman staggers into an uppercut.  Photo courtesy of NBC Sports.)

Thanks to our psychic abilities, we know exactly what two questions went running through your precious little head immediately after the curtain dropped on UFC 93: 1) How did I fare in the Cage Potato UFC 93 Pick-em Contest?, and 2) What will the Potato Index’s arbitrary numerical ratings system say about this event?

The answer to the first question is coming soon.  There are, after all, a lot of entries to sort through, and for that we thank you.  The answer to the second question begins…now!  Potato Index!!!!

Dan Henderson +23

He won the fight.  That’s the good news.  He didn’t look spectacular doing it, and we aren’t dying to see more of that particular style in the future, but a win is a win.  Now we have Hendo-Bisping to look forward to.  And that’s, you know, okay…

Rich Franklin -8

Honestly, this decision easily could have gone the other way (just ask the judge who scored it 30-27 Franklin), but it didn’t.  This loss isn’t a sign that Ace is washed up and he didn’t want to coach TUF anyway, so it’s not the end of the world.  It is, however, an indicator that he’s just treading water in the UFC for now, going neither up nor down.  There are worse fates.  At least this one pays.

Mark Coleman -54

Poor, poor Coleman.  Literally.  He says he didn’t have the money for a proper training camp, hence the non-existent cardio and an enthusiastic but misinformed Phil Baroni in his corner.  But what did we expect?  The man was great once, but nothing lasts forever, even cold November rain and explosive wrestling ability.  Please, either fight someone else in your age bracket, or call it quits.  We say this because we care.

Fight-day installments of the Danavlog tend to be a lot more interesting than other episodes from the previous week, and the 1/17 video was no exception. It opens with DW chatting with Michael Bisping before they do a demonstration of UFC Undisputed in Dublin. Bisping reminisces about the days when he was unbeatable at Street Fighter II. He’s also pleased with the U.K. team that he’ll be coaching on TUF, and very psyched to be a part of it. During the video game demo, Dana White plays as Quinton Jackson, while the Count plays as himself. The simulated fight goes pretty much how it would if Bisping were to actually fight Rampage.

At the fights, Alistair Overeem stops by to to say hello to the UFC prez; giddy as a schoolgirl, Dana starts squeezing his muscles. Overeem points out that he’s not as big as Brock Lesnar. Dana asks him if he’s ready to fight in the UFC, and Overeem says he is if management can work it out. K-1 super-heavyweight champ Semmy Schilt is also in attendance, and Dana makes it clear that he’d be welcome in the Octagon too. Later, Joe Rogan brutally mocks a Dana White superfan directly behind her back, Mauricio Rua is offered the Chuck Liddell fight, and Dana calls Dublin "pound-for-pound the best fuckin’ place we’ve ever been."

After the jump: The trailer for Ultimate Champion, another underground cage-fighting flick starring master thespian Stephan Bonnar. One day, the Wayans Brothers are going to make a parody of these movies and call it Never Submit, Surrender, or Back Down While Fighting Your Redbelt in the Confessions of a Pit Fighter. Hey, if Paul Blart can be the #1 movie in America…

(‘This guy…..appears to be wearing some kind of weird robe.’)

Dana White and Alistair Oveerem are living it up at UFC 93 in this picture from our friends at Free Fight Videos.  Semmy Schilt also made it out to the event, but man does Dana ever look chummy with "The Demolition Man."  Maybe I’m reading too much into it, but does the look on Overeem’s face say, ‘I’m putting my arm around this man because he is my new boss,’ to you?

(Weigh-in video courtesy of the UFC via The MMA Post. Looks like Octagon Girl Edith will be making her return, joined of course by Arianny and Logan.)

All fighters hit their mark comfortably today at the UFC 93 weigh-ins in Dublin — quite comfortably, in fact. Dan Henderson came in a full three pounds under the 205-pound limit for his main event bout, while Rich Franklin weighed in at 203. More surprising was former middleweight Martin Kampmann, who weighed in at trim 168 for his first fight at welterweight. Mark Coleman was able to land within the one-pound allowance for his debut match at light-heavyweight, though if you check out the video above starting at around the 17:47 mark, you’ll see that the Hammer looks way thinner now that he’s a LHW, and might be a little jet-lagged. Check out the full results below, and don’t forget to come back to CagePotato.com tomorrow at 3 p.m. ET/noon PT for our thrilling liveblog of the fights. 

MAIN CARD
Rich Franklin (203) vs Dan Henderson (202)
Mark Coleman (206) vs Mauricio “Shogun” Rua (205)
Jeremy Horn (185) vs Rousimar Palhares (184)
Alan Belcher (186) vs Denis Kang (184)
Marcus Davis (169) vs Chris Lytle (171)

UNDERCARD
Alexandre Barros (170) vs Martin Kampmann (168)
Antonio Mendes (204) vs Eric Schafer (205)
Ivan Serati (204) vs Tomasz Drwal (203)
John Hathaway (171) vs Tom Egan (169)
Dennis Siver (155) vs Nate Mohr (156)

(Hold up, Chris.  You wore a t-shirt that says "Ireland" to the UFC 93 press conference in Ireland?  That’s cheap heat, bro.)

We know you’re excited about UFC 94 after the premiere of “Primetime” this week, and you’re also pretty pumped about the new season of “Rock of Love Bus” (it’s the same show, but on a bus!), though that’s no excuse for losing sight of more pressing matters, like UFC 93.  We haven’t.  We even have some questions swirling around in our heads, and our couples therapist keeps telling us we shouldn’t keep that stuff bottled up, so here we go…

Who wins the Dan Henderson-Rich Franklin bout and how?  Will the UFC make a big deal out of the victor being the TUF 9 coach, and will whoever it happens to be even pretend to be excited about the job?

BF: The more I think about it, the more I can’t see this fight ending in anything other than a decision.  Both these guys are tough to finish (unless you’re Anderson Silva, in which case, all the middleweight division is your playground), and neither of them is likely to be fighting with the kind of reckless desperation that would lead to a quick ending.

That said, I think Franklin is the better all-around fighter.  All he has to do is keep Henderson from taking him down and holding him there while peppering him with elbows, which is undoubtedly Hendo’s game plan.  “Ace” is going to end up on his back once or twice, but he’ll take over in the second and third rounds and start picking Henderson apart.  Franklin by unanimous decision, 29-28 on all three scorecards.

Afterwards, Rogan will make cursory mention of Franklin being the next TUF coach, and Rich will be unable to completely hide his total lack of enthusiasm, despite his best efforts to be polite.  The UFC will be anticipating this, so instead they’ll focus their attention on Michael Bisping’s grinning reaction to the proceedings.

BG: Tough, tough fight to call, but I agree with your assessment of the matchup. Dan Henderson is a little further past his prime than Rich Franklin is, and Ace’s striking is a little sharper. In fact, I say Franklin gives Henderson the first TKO loss of his career around the 3:30 mark of round three, after controlling the standup and stuffing a few takedowns in the first two rounds. Between Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira, Wanderlei Silva, and Takanori Gomi, former PRIDE legends seem to be cursed lately, and Hendo will be the next to go down.

(Demonstrating one half of his stand-and-bang plan.)

If you’re an MMA fan with access to the internet (and the fact that you’re reading this means you’re at least one of those things), chances are you’ve heard about Marcus Davis’ big plans for his fight with Chris Lytle at UFC 93 this Saturday.  Davis, or as he’s known around here, Mr. Hand Grenade, has made no secret of the fact that he’d like this bout to be contested on the feet.  He also thinks it has the potential to be one of the all-time great battles of MMA, which is why he’s been trying to make it happen for months now.

At long last, he got his wish, and in this candid talk he tells us all about how this situation came about and why he thinks you’re going to like what you see when he steps into the Octagon with Chris Lytle this Saturday.

CagePotato.com: Okay, Marcus. I think a lot of people are wondering about some of the stuff you’ve said about this “gentlemen’s agreement” between you and Chris to stand and fight on the feet.  Where did that come from, and do you really think you’ll both stick to it?

I think everybody is a little confused on this.  There wasn’t any real agreement.  It’s just that we’ve both talked about wanting to have exciting fights and bang it out.  I think people are assuming it’s an agreement.  Basically, Chris Lytle and I started talking, I think after he fought Thiago Alves, about how if we ever fought each other it would be a great fight.  When the time came that he was going to fight Paul Taylor and I was going to fight Paul Kelly, we were talking about calling each other out in order to make it happen.  I was going to call him out because I thought I was fighting after him.  Then they switched it so I was fighting before him, so it wouldn’t have made much sense for me to call him out, in case he lost.  

But what made it all snowball was that I said, jokingly, in a couple of interviews, ‘the first guy to take it to the ground is a pussy.’  It was supposed to be a joke, but I think a lot of people took it seriously.  The way I’m looking at it, though, it’s an MMA fight.  It takes place wherever it takes place.  I’m sure we’re going to hit the ground at some point.  But the big thing is we’re planning on putting on our best performance and bringing out the best in the other guy.  

It’s like a dance.  If one person is a great dancer and the other person isn’t, it’s going to look like crap.  But if you have two people who know what they’re doing, that can be a beautiful thing to watch.  That’s what I’m hoping for.

Building it up in this way, don’t you think that puts added pressure on you guys to fight a specific type of fight, trying for this legendary outcome?

(‘Sup. You chicks party?’)

Marcus Davis just won’t quit with this master plan he and Chris Lytle have concocted.  While it seems to be Davis who’s always talking about it, the agreement is that they will both stand and bang it out at UFC 93, and Davis is confident that this will result in a fight of epic proportions:

"Chris and I have spoken a number of times about this fight and we know the opportunity that it gives us," Davis told Eurosport-Yahoo! "That’s why we were so desperate to get it organised."

"We’re aiming for more than just Fight of the Night," Davis went on. "We think our styles and the way we fight match up really, really well and that this fight could potentially project us into a sort of legendary status. …I want to be remembered in this sport, and this fight is my chance to make sure that happens."

 
(Props: MMA Mania)

Nine bouts have been officially confirmed for UFC 93 (January 17th; Dublin, Ireland) — though there are some surprises in the card’s arrangement. Here’s what we have so far:

MAIN CARD
Rich Franklin vs. Dan Henderson
Mark Coleman vs. Mauricio Rua  
Alan Belcher  vs. Denis Kang 
Antonio Mendes vs. Andre Gusmao
Dennis Siver vs. Nate Mohr 

UNDERCARD
Marcus Davis vs. Chris Lytle
Jeremy Horn vs. Rousimar Palhares 
Tomasz Drwal vs. Ivan Serati  
Thomas Egan vs. John Hathaway

How you gonna leave the Irish Hand Grenade off the main card in Dublin? It’s blasphemy, especially when he’s already promised the fans a pussy-free slugfest with Chris Lytle. It’s also strange to see Horn/Palhares on the untelevised card, when you consider who actually did make the cut.

First off, Antonio Mendes vs. Andre Gusmao. Both of these guys got owned in their UFC debuts; Mendes was steamrolled by Thiago Silva at UFC 84, and Gusmao was overwhelmed by Jon Jones’s explosive athleticism at UFC 87 and lost a unanimous decision. So we’re letting them fight each other on the main card? No, this has to be some kind of mistake.

(Anyone else have a sudden hankering for soccer kicks and head stomps?)

Newly acquired ATT fighter and former Pride bad-ass Denis Kang could make his UFC debut in front of a different foreign audience, as rumor has it he may take on Alan “The Talent” Belcher at UFC 93 in Dublin, Ireland on January 17. Bout agreements have reportedly been sent to both camps, and while it’s not yet official Belcher says he’s accepting and is waiting to hear from Kang.

Starting Kang off with Belcher, who’s coming off a very narrow decision win over Ed Herman at Ultimate Fight Night 15, may be a sign that the UFC is perfectly willing to bring him along slowly rather than try to fast-track Kang for a title shot. Not that Belcher’s a punk, but he’s also not quite as explosive or experienced as Kang.

If this fight gets added to the card along with Franklin-Henderson and Coleman-Rua, the UFC will have every reason to expect a successful debut in Dublin. Then again, the event is already sold out, so maybe they aren’t too concerned.

(A legendary PRIDE rivalry will be settled in the Octagon in January.)

Confirming rumors that were circulating yesterday, the UFC announced via UFC.com that Dublin would indeed be playing host to UFC 93 on January 17th; the event will be held at the O2 Dublin.

Only two matches have been announced so far — but they’re worth the price of admission by themselves. The main event will be a light-heavyweight fight between Rich Franklin and Dan Henderson, a long-awaited pairing that seemed to be in jeopardy when Franklin moved up to 205. Does this mean that Hendo will be hanging around at light-heavyweight for a while? And would the fight interfere with him being a coach on the upcoming US vs. UK season of TUF? We’ll get those answers to you as soon as we can.

Here’s where the matchmaking gets kind of brilliant. The co-main event will be another light-heavyweight contest, between UFC Hall of Famer Mark Coleman and Mauricio “Shogun” Rua. If you’re up on your MMA lore, you’ll remember that Coleman handed Shogun his only loss in PRIDE — a TKO due to broken arm at PRIDE 31 in February ’06 — which led to the infamous Chute Boxe/Hammer House brawl (the entire incident can be seen here). Now Rua will get a chance to settle the score, once and for all. Sure, Coleman hasn’t fought since getting armbarred by Fedor Emelianenko at PRIDE 32 in October ’06, and Rua has been battling injuries since his loss to Forrest Griffin at UFC 76, but you can’t beat that storyline…